The analysis of samples such as cells, for example those obtained from a patient, bound to an arrangement of binding partners, such as a protein micro-array on a glass slide has been proposed as a diagnostic tool.
Similarly, the analysis of the presence of fluorescent markets indicative of the presence of particular molecules such as proteins in a sample has been proposed as a diagnostic tool.
It is desirable to provide a device for capturing digitised patterns of such samples to facilitate the use and implementation of such a diagnostic tool. It is further desirable to provide a device which can be made readily available for widespread usage over a distributed network of pathology laboratories and research facilities.
In at least preferred embodiments, the present invention seeks to provide a compact imaging device and a method of deriving an image of samples on a sample slide suitable for implementation of such a diagnostic tool.